Battle of Camden: British Victory

The Worst American defeat of the Revolution

The Battle of Camden
The Battle of Camden

WHO?

The Biritsh and the Germans versus the Americans.

WHAT?

The Loyalist and Patriots fight at Camden to fight for freedom and not be part of Great Britiananymore.

WHERE?

Camden, South Carolina

WHEN?

August 16, 1780

WHY?

The Partriots want to be free from Great Britian.

This video clip is from the movie The Partiot.

As all of the other battles fought in the Revolutionary War, it was the British versus the Americans. The Battle of Camden was on August 16, 1780in South Carolina. The two Major Generals were Major General Lord Cornwallis against Major General Horatio Gates. Major General Lord Cornwallis was a loyalist, which mean that he is loyal to Britain. He was said to be a great leader of the Revolutionary War. He was a Major General in the revoultionary war with many victorious wins. Major General Horatio Gates was a patriot, which means that he was against Britain and he wanted to break away from his mother country. Gates was also a great leader and was a Major General in the Revolutionary War.

On August 14,Major General Horatio Gates was informed that Major General Lord Cornwallis was going to returning from Charleston with more regulars to fight in the Battle of Camden and to rejoin his group he already had there. Major General Cornwallis thought it would be a good idea if he he went to Camden to fight and help his other troops there so he could defeat the Patriots. Major General Cornwallis didn't actually get to Camden untill August 16, 1780, when the battle actually took place. At Camdenis where the Partiots and the Loyalist met since they were both on there way to make an attack to fight each other.

On August 15, 1780, the British and the Americans collided and decided to wait until dawn to fight so they could be light.

On August 16 1780, the British had about 1,500 hundred regulars and about 500 militia, and the American troops had about 1,500 regulars and about 1,500 militia. Even though the Americans had more people then the British still won this battle. The battle of Camden first started in the morning before dark, but they decided to hold the fight off until the sun came up. The fight took place near a creek to the North-East of Camden, but then the ended up at Camden because Gates started to retreat back that way. Originally, Cornwallis came with his troop to Camden becasue they heard there was going to be a battle, so he came to help the loyalist. Gates new that his army was not well-trained but he had to give it a try. Even though they lost the battle the killed many of the British men but as a result for them, many of their men were either wounded, killed or captured by the British forces.

During the Battle Cornwallis, ordered some of his troops to go attack the Americans from the back. This hurt them badly because the Americans weren't readyfor this so it was a surprise attack for them. Baron Von Kalb got shot 11 times, attemping to gather up his men. Baron Von Kalb was a General in the Revolutionary War. He was also originally from Huettendorf, Barvaria. From there, he went to Lafayette in 1777 and became a Major Gneral once he joined the Continental Army. After he was shot 11 times, he still only died one day after that. Today, he is buried in Camden, New Jersey.
In the end of this Battle, Gates army was defeated and the British won. Over 1,000 people got captured and were being held as prisoners. Due to the lost of this war, the most important thing that hapened was that as a result of this battle, Gates lost control of almost all of the South. General Nathaniel Greene started to recruit more poeple to join the army because of this sad battle. The reason for Gates' lost was probably because he got to confident for being able to beat the British, after the Battle of Saratoga. Also, as being a Major General, Gates made way to many bad decisions without thinking them threw. . Also, Gates' troops were also running low on supplies by the end of the battle. Also, he's army was weak and ill from not being well rested or well fed. In conclusion of this war, 68 Britsh men were kill and 239 men were wounded. For the American troops, about 1,000 killed and about 1,000 wounded or captured.


Both of the video's shown above are reenactments of what might have happened at the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780


Death of Baron Von Kalb
Death of Baron Von Kalb

QUESTIONS!

1. Name the two major generals and if they were a loyalist or patriot.
2. What kind of things helped this battle be a british victory?
3. Do you think that Major General Cornwallis' idea of heading towards the partiots was a good one?
4. Why was this battle important?
5. What are some of the reason's for Gates defeat?